RUSSIA has been accused of making military threats and pushing disinformation in an attempt to sabotage relations between Sweden and NATO.

President Putin has dismissed allegations of Russia interfering in US and European politics

Russia is also accused of targeting journalists and academics on social media with “troll armies”.

Taking aim at news agencies, including Russian state media, the report said: ”Disinformation on NATO and suspected intrusions by foreign submarines have appeared in Swedish media, themes which were picked up by Sputnik, RT and other sources of Russian public diplomacy and broadcast to an international audience.”

Kremlin-controlled Sputnik launched a Swedish language site in April 2015, with the author’s claiming the site was a “key Russian public diplomacy tool promoting the narrative of crisis in the West”.

Moscow is also accused of spreading fake news and propaganda against the Swedish government over reports relating to Ukraine.

EPA

Poland welcomed several thousand US troops in a planned NATO operation this week

REUTERS

Operation Atlantic Resolve aims to show Moscow Washington's commitment to its allies

Russia is yet to comment on the report, but has recently dismissed claims of interfering in US and European politics following allegations of hacking and cyber warfare.

It comes as Poland welcomed several thousand US troops along with tanks and heavy equipment under a planned NATO operation to beef up its Eastern European allies.

The move vexed Moscow, prompting the Kremlin to say the troops' presence is a threat to Russia.

Around 2,700 troops, out of 3,500 planned US troops, the largest US military reinforcement of Europe in decades, arrived as part of operation Atlantic Resolve, aimed at showing Moscow Washington's commitment to its allies.

NATO training exercises

Wed, June 8, 2016

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty

Polish troops land with parachutes at the military compound near Torun, central Poland as part of the NATO Anaconda-16 military exercise

US Army Colonel Christopher R. Norrie, commander of the 3rd Armoured Brigade Combat Team said: “The main goal of our mission is deterrence and prevention of threats.”

The US deployment to NATO's eastern flank includes more than 80 main battle tanks and hundreds of armoured vehicles. The military unit will rotate through several countries, including Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania.

Poland and the Baltic former Soviet Republics requested US and NATO troops after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014, fearing further military operations in the region by President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine in Pictures

Thu, August 14, 2014

A Ukrainian warplane was blown out of the sky over rebel-held territory as fierce clashes between government troops and pro-Russian insurgents left dozens of civilians dead. At least 415,800 people have fled their homes due to fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, the UN refugee agency said on August 20. These powerful images show how local residents lives have been affected

"We are talking here about a third country stepping up its military presence in Europe near our borders."

Speaking to Express.co.uk, an RT spokesperson said: "This is just the latest entry in the anthology of Russia hysteria.

"Having failed to find any factual errors in RT’s reporting, the media/political/analyst establishment is once again resorting to using pejorative and dismissive labels meant to scaremonger the European public with cries of 'the Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!'”